What did you recently finish reading?
White Cat (Holly Black). Which was completely disappointing for me — I was intrigued at first, and then I figured out the entire plot, and felt that people were being stupid just for the sake of the plot.

What are you currently reading?
The Buried Life (Carrie Patel), which I think I’ve talked about enough that people get I was excited to get it. I’m about halfway through; I really need to sit down and get on with it.

And then I also randomly picked up The Rithmatist (Brandon Sanderson). Other people complained about the amount of stress laid on the magic system here, but I kinda like it. I started it at the beginning of my volunteer library shift earlier, and I’m already halfway through. I sort of hope I’m going to be able to finish this tonight.

What do you think you’ll read next?
I think the plan is to read That Way Lies Camelot (Janny Wurts), mostly. Obviously I still have a bunch of books that are stranded somewhere half-read, and I’m partway through a few series. But I’m feeling a bit unblocked about reading after the readathon and all, so I’m hoping that just letting myself roam about my shelves a bit will have good results. I may well finally get on with Elantris (Brandon Sanderson), since I know I was enjoying that — I only stopped because the ereader I was using at the time went phut and I lost my place.

What did you recently finish reading?
I reread Among Others (Jo Walton) on the train today, which was fun because when I got to the bits about reading on trains it felt terribly meta. It ended too soon, and I still feel completely gushy about this book, and I love the way it’s put together and, and, and. You get the general gist. Also nice being sat on a train into Wales at the same point as I’m reading about the main character being on a train into Wales.

When I got back, I just read a Superman comic I need to return to the library, uh, today. By which I mean I shall have a tiny fine to pay in the morning. It’s okay, but I don’t think I’m really ever going to be much of a DC fan. Gail Simone’s Batgirl is the only one I get really enthusiastic about.

What are you currently reading?
The Broken Land (Ian McDonald). I thought I’d be able to finish it today, on the train, but people on the last leg of the trip were very loud. I am wondering why I was so hesitant to start on Ian McDonald, and why people keep saying his work is ‘difficult’, but while it’s different in some ways (the narrative style isn’t always straightforward, there’s more reported than direct speech, he’s representing non-verbal communication a lot), I don’t find that challenging. Just interesting!

What do you think you’ll read next?
Do you guys believe a word I say here? I can tell you that what I’ll dip into before I go to bed tonight is Gulp (Mary Roach), but beyond that, you may even have a better idea than I do. Half a King (Joe Abercrombie) is definitely coming up soon, after I read a review from someone I trust about it being very enthusiastic, but otherwise, it beats me.

(It strikes me that I could make a sort of lottery out of guessing what book I’ll actually read next. Or a raffle. It really would be very random.)

What did you recently finish reading?
A couple of books I had to review that didn’t impress me very much, and Art Spiegelman’s Maus. I feel weird talking about liking/disliking Maus, given what it is, so I’m trying to steer clear of that. It was interesting, certainly, and worth taking the time to read.

What are you currently reading?
Most actively working on my reread of Wicked (Gregory Maguire), which I really do like more now I know the musical so well, somehow. I guess it’s a symbiotic sort of thing, experiencing it in multiple media and seeing it differently, etc. I’m also rereading Assassin’s Apprentice (Robin Hobb), since I’ve been approved for Fool’s Assassin, her new book.

My only new-to-me read at the moment, in terms of what I’m actively reading, is The Broken Land (Ian McDonald). I wasn’t very hopeful after looking at some reviews, but I’m actually really intrigued and drawn in.

What do you think you’ll read next?
I’m going to finish The Wizard’s Promise (Cassandra Rose Clarke) and Seven Forges (James A. Moore) next, possibly even tomorrow. I’ll be slower working on Wicked and Assassin’s Apprentice, since they’re rereads, but in general it looks like a mass reread of Robin Hobb’s work, plus trying to keep up with my review copies and such. Probably the next of Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce books next, in that line.

What did you recently finish reading?
After the Apocalypse (Maureen F. McHugh), which I really wasn’t too taken with. There was nothing major wrong with the stories, it just seemed so bland. I think I’ve had that problem with McHugh’s writing before. The last book before that was a reread of Terry Pratchett’s The Colour of Magic; I’m planning to finally get round to reading the whole Discworld series for my 101 things/1001 days challenge list, so this is a start.

What are you currently reading?
Delusions of Gender (Cordelia Fine). I’ve been meaning to read this one for ages. It’s more recent than I thought, but I’ve seen a lot of people talking about it. I’m not very far into it yet, though, so I’ll reserve judgement.

I’m also just getting started on The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Catherynne M. Valente) — I’m about 20% of the way through, I think. It’s very typical of Valente, of course; whimsical and sweet, with a touch of Peter Pan about it. I’m enjoying it.

Everything else I’m currently reading, well, you can find out here. It’s a tad ridiculous.

What do you think you’ll read next?
I think I’m gonna finally finish up The Best of All Possible Worlds (Karen Lord), and I’m planning to get through a whole stack of comics — Wonder Woman, Spider-man, Avengers vs. X-men, Neil Gaiman’s Eternals. I want to finish Maus (Art Spiegelman), too, and after seeing the Wicked musical on tour last week, I want to reread Gregory Maguire’s Wicked.

I think that’s enough to be getting on with…

What did you recently finish reading?
Stephen Grosz’s The Examined Life, which was a rec from someone on twitter. I need to digest it a bit more, I think, but it was certainly interesting, sometimes very touching. Before that, it was Tamburlaine Must Die, which was actually a rec for the same challenge (get recommendations from twenty people and read them all), which… I liked it well enough, but I’m not sure it all connected up for me.

What are you currently reading?
With the usual caveat of “actively”, let’s see — Death and the Penguin, by Andrey Kurkov, which is for the same challenge again. Other than that, still working through The Earth: An Intimate History by Richard Fortey. Somewhat taking my time here, but enjoying it. I mean, someone who can make geology fascinating to me needs to be cherished, I think. He talks about Earth with such power!

Fiction-wise, I am being terrible about Cassandra Rose Clarke’s The Wizard’s Promise and Rosemary Sutcliff’s Knight’s Fee, which are both in progress without any actual progress being made. (Along with Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale, and various others.)

What do you think you’ll read next?
Probably Diana Wynne Jones and Ursula Jones’ The Islands of Chaldea, since the library informed me yesterday that they’ve got their orders in and I am, oh glory, first in the queue for it. I have Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson on hold, too, but the person ahead of me in the queue is taking an age.